KEARNEY – The Kearney boys basketball team rode a huge wave of momentum into the fourth quarter but ultimately ran short of big shots as Lincoln Pius earned a 62-54 win at Kearney High School Tuesday night. Click here to listen to the broadcast replay.
Kearney was winners of four straight and were coming off back-to-back road victories at Lincoln North Star and Omaha Benson from the previous weekend. Pius was riding high as victors in eight of their prior nine games, including a win over previously undefeated and Class B leader Omaha Skutt Catholic a week prior. Both teams had something to prove and wanted to jump their position in their respective Class A Power Point ratings with a win at Kearney High School.
KHS BBB
The game began with a defensive slugfest, as the Bearcats and Thunderbolts traded steals, turnovers, and defensive plays for a 11-9 first quarter. There were inklings of big plays however, as Pius’ Jackson Kessler preluded his big day with a three pointer. The Bearcats hit two triples of their own from Karter Lee and Treyven Beckman as the lead entering the second was owned by the home team.
KHS BBB
The second quarter had showings of a defensive game, but Pius began to rip off more open opportunities from role players as Kellan Humm knocked down a triple with Drew Drake hitting a three pointer as well. The state’s leading double-double player Treyson Anderson had a relatively quiet first half being held to only four points. Kearney’s big shots began to drop with Jack Dahlgren getting into the scoring as he hit two threes and Colt Straka added more scoring with another roll. Pius had more chances for success, leading to their 24-21 lead entering halftime.
KHS BBB
The start of the second half appeared to be a monumental avalanche in favor of Kearney, as each team had a three point barrage fall with Adam Searcey hitting two triples for Pius. However, Kearney’s Lee added eight points, Dahlgren connected on a triple and a jumper, while Ben Johnson finally got his offense rolling with three triples to shoot Kearney ahead 43-36 entering the fourth quarter.
KHS BBB
Despite the lead and stellar defensive showing in the third quarter, Kearney’s momentum quickly subsided into a deficit as Pius responded early and often with buckets from Kessler especially, adding twelve of his seventeen points in the fourth quarter. Searcey connected on two more three-pointers, but Kearney would not die easy having Straka step up to keep the Bearcats within reach as he knocked down huge triples of his own.
In the end, Kearney’s fouls collected faster than their shots could drop and eventually moved the Bearcats into another loss, falling at home 62-54.
The Bearcats drop to 13-5 on the year and take on Lincoln Northeast on Saturday afternoon.
Kearney had contributions from Lee with 14 points, Dahlgren ended with 13, Straka had 10, Johnson with 9, Endorf wrapped with 5, and Beckman collected 3.
